Process and apparatus for finishing of hose



R. L. LUcKENBAcH 3,431,656

March 11, 1969 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR FINISHING OF HOSE Filed Maron '22, 1967 United States Patent O 3,431,656 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR FINISHING OF HOSE Roy L. Luckenbach, Asheboro, N.C., assignor to Burlington Industries, Inc., Greensboro, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 625,134 U.S. Cl. 34--12 13 Claims Int. Cl. F26b 7 00 ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A process of and apparatus for treating and finishing hose after knitting which involves the elimination of preboarding hose and includes the setting of dye and the setting of shape and length of hose on boards simultaneously by subjecting the hose while dry to a treating zone in which the temperature of the zone has been elevated to a predetermined temperature and in which super-heated steam is discharged into the treating Zone at a prede-termined temperature directly on the hose. The hose are subjected to the super-heated steam for a predetermined length of time and are then removed from the treating zone and taken off of the boards and paired either manually or automatically by number rather than size and shape.

The present invention relates to an improved process and apparatus for the treatment and finishing of hose after the hose have been knitted or otherwise made.

Throughout the specification, the term hose will be used and while the term primarily covers half hose, stretch socks, and anklets, the term is also intended to cover stretch stockings, womens seamless hose, Womens full fashioned hose, or the like where applicable.

After hose have been knitted, there are numerous treatment steps that the hose must subsequently go through before they are finished and ready for packaging or boxing.- Heretofore, the processing of hose primarily has `been what is commonly referred to in the trade as batch processing. More recently efforts have been made to provide a continuous processing of hose such as the process described in my copending application Ser. No. 528,135 filed Feb. 17, 1966. The present process and apparatus may be utilized either in a batch or in a continuous system, the present invention eliminating certain steps of either of the previous-mentioned systems and decreasing the time, cost, and/ or manpower of the same.

A typical batch processing system included taking -a number of hose constituting a batch and first tumbling or pre-steaming the hose to relax the knitted yarns therein prior to shaping and setting. After tumbling or presteaming, the hose were then placed on thin boards, usually metal, and generally in the shape of the final form of the hose, the boarded hose being then positioned in an autoclave or pressure retort machine under which the hose were subjected to moist heat and elevated pressure. This stepA in the processing was known as preboarding and was for the purpose of setting the yarn into the final oriented molecular structure and into the loop and fabric conformations as intended in shape of rice the hose. After pre-boarding, the hose were removed from the boards and subsequently dyed as a batch in conventional rotary and paddle type dyeing equipment, the hose being bundled in lots by nets or the like during the dyeing operation.

Once the dyeing operation had been completed, the batch of hose were subjected in sequence to an aftertreatment operation, a rinsing operation, a softening operation, and then a final boarding operation in which the wet hose were placed again on boards and dried to the intended shape so as to give the hose proper layout for customer appeal. The final boarding operation was sometimes referred to as a pressing operation because it was merely to give proper layout.

The final step in the finishing of the hose after final boarding in both the batch and continuous processes involved a handling operation that is known in the trade as pairing, This previous pairing operation involved a number of operators each matching together pairs of hose by shape and length as even though the hose were pre-boarded and final boarded, the shape and length from pre-boarding would change due to the shrinkage or the like of the hose in the various steps of the process after pre-boarding.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved process and apparatus for the treatment and finishing of hose made from natural fibers, synthetic fibers or combination of the same, as well as core spun hose and argyle hose, the process and apparatus materially reducing the time, labor and cost for finishing hose.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process and apparatus in which the treating and nishing of hose simultaneously sets the dye in the hose and sets the shape and length of the hose, the process and apparatus eliminating certain of the steps and apparatus previously used in the treating and finishing of hose.

Ancillary to the immediately preceding object, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a process and an apparatus in which the hose when finally removed from the boards have a uniform and proper shape and length for packaging so that pairing, which may be manual or automatic, merely involves pairing by number rather than pairing by shape and length.

The term pairing -by number as used throughout the specification and claims is intended to distinguish from the conventional pairing step in the method of treating hose. As heretofore mentioned, conventional pairing necessitated an operator matching, from a batch of hose, two hose for packaging by the length and shape of the hose even though all of the hose in the batch were supposed to be processed to the same length and shape. The unequal and heretofore uncontrolled shrinkage in the individual Iunits required a pair to be matched and packaged as to length and shape to make the package have customer appeal. In the present invention the tedious step of matching as to size and shape is entirely eliminated as all that an operator has to do is to take two from a supply and package the same as individual units iinished in same manner will have the same stabilized length and shape. Therefore, the term pairing by number is restricted to a pairing operation wherein no consideration need be given to matching by length and shape as known in the trade, the only consideration being selecting two from a group for packaging, the group being made and processed in the same manner and all having a stabilized shape and length.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved process and apparatus for the treatment and finishing of hose in which the dyeing of the hose is improved with colorfastness being more efficient from a washing and crocking standpoint.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a treating and finishing process and an apparatus which will eliminate the pre-boarding step heretofore necessary for the nylon family of hose such as Banlon, Agilon and the like as well as eliminate the pre-tumbling step for relaxing the yarn prior to preboarding and yet the finished hose will have a stabilized size and shape.

Ancillary to the immediately preceding object, it is a further object to eliminate the wetting out of hose, especially cotton and argyles prior to final boarding as final boarding is accomplished with the hose dry. The term dry as used throughout the specification with respect to boarding includes a condition in which the hose are absolutely dry or to a condition in which the hose have been -dried by extraction and tumbling and are possibly slightly damp to touch only. In other words, the last condition described is one in which substantially all of the liquid that can possibly be removed by extraction and tumbling has been removed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a process for treating and finishing hose which materially reduces the amount of chemicals and water used in the treatment of the hose and thus reducing the cost of finishing hose.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear more fully in the following specification, claims and drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fiow shet of the process for the present invention, the process being either a batch process or continuous process and;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the improved apparatus for simultaneously setting the dye inthe hose and setting the shape and length of the hose.

Before describing the process of the present invention it is believed necessary to briey disclose the conventional steps in at least one of the processes for the treating and finishing of hose as herefore accomplished in the prior art. Listed below are the convnetional steps of treating and Ifinishing hose after knitting by a batch process.

Nylon Banlon (1) Pre-steam (1) Pre-tumble (2) Pre-board (2) Pre-board (3) Dye (3) Dye (4) Aftertreat (4) Aftertreat (5) Rinse (5) Rinse (6) Soften (6) Soften (7) Extract (7) Extract (8) Final Board (8) Tumble (9) Final Board In treating nylon hose, the hose were first pre-steamed, the steam being a moist or saturated steam at a temperature usually below 200 F. The purpose of presteaming is to relax the yarn in the hose without permanently setting the same. After relaxing the yarn, the hose was then placed on a board for the pre-boarding treatment. In this step of the process, the hose was subjected to moist steam and possibly pressure, the temperature of' the steam being higher than the temperature of the steam used in the pre-steam step which ciused relaxing of the yarn. The purpose of pre-boarding, as mentioned herebefore, was to set the yarn into' its final" oriented molecular structure and into its loop and fabric confirmations of intended shape. After the pre-boarding step, the hose was removed from the board and a number of the same were placed together in a net and subjected to dyeing in a bath. Once the dyestuff in the bath had been exhausted, the batch of hose were aftertreated, then rinsed with water and then finally softened. The purpose of the aftertreatment was primarily to set the dye although this did not insure fastness of the dye or completely eliminate crocking in subsequent washing. The batch of hose, once the softening step had been completed, was then placed in an extractor which removed most of the liquid from the hose and then the hose were again boarded while still very damp and subjected to a final drying in a heated chamber. The final boarding step served as a pressing step so that the hose would have a final form suitable for packaging.

The steps in treating and finishing Banlon are substantially the same as the steps for treating nylon with the eX- ception that instead of pre-steaming, the Banlon was pretumbled to relax the yarn in the hose and an additional step was provided for tumbling the hose after the usual extracting step.

In both of the above prior art processes for treating and finishing hose, the hose after boarding must be further hand paired as to size, shape and length so that they may be packaged properly. The procedure of pairing was a very time-consuming and tedious operation as there was no way to control the uneven shrinkage of hose which occurs after the preboarding step due to further relaxing of the yarn during dyeing, aftertreatment, rinsing, softening and the like. The temperatures used in final boarding cannot be as high as used in pre-boarding as the molecular structure of the yarn had already been oriented and thus the final boarding step did no more than act as a means of pressing the hose to improve its layout rather than to permanently set the same.

In accordance with the present invention it has been discovered that the subjecting of boarded hose directly to super-heated steam in a zone heated by dry heat permanently Orients the molecular structure of the yarn as Well as permanently sets the shape of the hose, the length and size of the hose by fixing the loop and fabric conformations permanently. Additionally, by utilizing live super-heated steam applied directly into contact with boarded hose, the super-heated steam also functions to set the dye in that the super-heated steam drives the dyestuff into the yarn of the hose because of the thermosolling of the dye, i.e., the melting or semi-melting of the surface dye into 'the fiber. This enhances the fastness of color and eliminates the crocking of dye during subsequent washing. Because of the unexpected results obtained by utilizing a dye heated zone and subjecting boarded hose to super-heated steam within the zone, the pre-boarding step is completely elimina-ted for hose made from synthetics and from core spun yarns. Additionally, the relaxing step, which in the case of nylon is pre-steaming and Banlon is pre-tumbling, is also eliminated as maybe the after-treatment step. Additionally, the hose are dried prior to boarding so that they may be placed on the boards and adjusted to a predetermined length and thus when subjected to the dry heat plus super-heated steam, the hose will set to the shape and length thereby eliminating the step of pairing by shape and length. The pairing is accomplished only by number to make up a package and such pairing may be quickly done manually or may be easily accomplished by automatic means, such as the means used to remove the hose from the boards.

In describing the process of the present invention in detail, the hose after knitting are first subjected to a dye bath in which dyeing starts at F. and goes to a boil. In the dye bath, the yarn is not only dyed but is also relaxed so that there is no necessity of a separate relaxing step prior to permanent setting. Typical dye bath formulations 5 for black and dark grey shades respectively are as follaws:

permanently sets the yarn in the hose and thus the hose assumes permanently the shape of the board and the 100 Pound Dye Run Black Formulation-Dyes AFTERTREAT Chemicals Supplier Pounds Erina1Nw Gerg `1.oo Acetic Acid 2.00

If the aftertreating step is desired, the bath is cooled further to 160 after the chemicals have been added and the hose stay in the aftertreatment bath at this temperature for `approximately l minutes. In the conventional batch treatment processes where there was an aftertreatment step, it was necessary to use four pounds of Erional NW for a 100 pound dye run.

Once aftertreatment is completed or if no aftertreatment is desired as is especially the case when the shades of the hose are medium or light, the temperature of the bath is then dropped to 120 F. and water at this temperature is fed into the same to thoroughly rinse the hose. The hose are rinsed at 120 F. for approximately l0 minutes.

After rinsing a softener is added to the bath, the softener being from a class of softeners of -the imidazoliane type, for example, a softener identified by the supplier Scholler Brothers as Softener EN. For a 100 pound dye run three pounds of Softener EN is used. In selecting the softener it was necessary to take into account that the softener must be able to withstand the high temperature encountered in the subsequent boarding step where superheated steam is used, the softener lbeing of the type which doesnt burn off.

After the softening step, the hose is dried by iirst extracting in a centrifugal type of extractor or the like. The majority of the liquid is removed by extracting and then the hose are tumbled to remove the remaining liquid. The purpose of drying the hose prior to boiling is to eliminate or prevent the migration of any surface dye as well as make sure there is no moisture which will affect the iinal setting or stabilizing of the yarn.

Once the hose have been dried, then they are placed on boards, which are usually metal, and are adjusted to a predetermined length. The boards with the dry hose thereon adjusted to the predetermined length are then placed in a zone which has been heated by dry heat to a temperature in the range of 300 F. to 450 F. When the hose on the boards are in the heated zone then they are subjected to super-heated steam in the range of 300 F. to 450 F. for a predetermined time in the range of seconds to 60 seconds. The super-heated steam drives the dye into the fibers of the yarn of the hose by a thermosolling action and thereby permanently sets the dye. Additionally, the super-heated steam and dry heat length to which it is adjusted on the board. Since all of the hose treated in one batch will be adjusted to the same length and all of the boards will have the same shape, the hose when taken out of the heat zone will have uniform shape, size and length and thus eliminate the tedious pairing by size, shape and length. They may be easily paired by number either manually or automatically for packaging.

While satisfactory results have been obtained within a temperature range for the super-heated steam and the dry heat of 300 F. to 450 F., it has been found that dark shades need only be treated in a range of 300 F. to 400 F. whereas lighter shades, which tend to repel heat, can be treated in a temperature range of 350 F. to 450 F. For extremely rapid or flash type treatment much higher temperatures may be employed so long as the amount of heat applied is not suliicient to destroy the fibers.

The time in which the hose is subjected to superheated steam is not as critical as the temperature but it has been found that best results `are obtained in a range between 20 seconds and 60 seconds. Tests have been made at 5 seconds and 10 seconds and while the results were improved over the conventional treating and finishing of hose they were not as good as the results obtained between 20 seconds and one minute. At 5 seconds and at 10 seconds the hose maintained their length but lost some of their shape in the heel and toe lareas but were still acceptable and better than in the prior art processes. Between 20 seconds and 60 seconds the length and shape was stabilized accurately and the hose had a very desirable hand layout. Over 60 seconds nothing was lost in the treatment of the hose but nothing was gained by using the increased time treatment.

Cotton hose and argyle hose made from cotton, orlon, nylon, and viscose or the like have been treated and 1inished by subjecting them to super-heated steam in a zone or atmosphere of dry heat and the results have been excellent in that the hose were well laid out and the dye was fast. Heretofore cotton and argyles had to be wet out and softened in the dye house before boarding but by using super-heated steam it is found that wetting out can be eliminated as the super-heated steam breaks down the starch in the fibers and thus leaves a well laid out hose with good hand having uniform size, shape and length.

FIGURE 2 of the drawing discloses an improved apparatus for establishing a zone of dry heat and superheated steam. In more detail the apparatus includes a walled casing 10 having an inlet opening 12 and an outlet opening 14 for boarded hose. Boards B with hose H mounted thereon are supported by suitable means such as a conveyor chain 16. They are transferred into the chamber through the inlet opening 12 and out of the chamber through the outlet opening 14 the hose being in the chamber for the predetermined times given above. An electric heater means 18 is provided within the chamber of the casing 10 for elevating the temperature of the chamber or zone to the predetermined desired temperature. A steam pipe 20 positioned within the chamber of the casing 10 has suitable outlets 22 therein for discharging super-heated steam directly onto the hose. The pipe is connected to a suitable source of steam such as a steam generator (not shown) and the steam from the steam generator, which is supplied at ambient conditions such as pressures of 10 to l2 p.s.i.g., is heated by an electric heating coil 24 or the like so that its temperature is elevated to a point Where it becomes super-heated steam within the desired temperature range. Blower means 25 such as an electric fan or the like is provided within the casing to continuously circulate the heated air from the heaters 18 and the super-heated steam from the steam pipe 20.

It is necessary to have the interior of the casing 10 heated by the dry heat from the heater means 18 at least to the temperature of the super-heated steam as there must be no condensation of the super-heated steam on the boards B. If there is any condensation on the boards B and the yarn of the hose H becomes wet, then the results of using super-heated steam to stabilize the length and shape of the hose is affected.

It will now be appreciated that conventional autoclaves and retorts heretofore used in the boarding of hose can be modified to `accomplish the processes of the present invention. ln each instance the modiiication will include providing means to supply super-heated steam directly into the chamber of the autoclave or retort and providing means to create or develop and maintain dry heat Within the same.

Also, While the apparatus for the present invention has been shown as not pressurized, it will be understood that if desired, it could be a pressurized zone rather than a non-pressurized zone.

The objects and advantages of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished by the process and apparatus disclosed herein `and illustrated in the drawing. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that certain modifications can be made to both the process and the apparatus Without departing from the Spirit and scope of the present invention.

Therefore, the terminology used throughout the specification is for the purpose of description and not limitation, the scope of the invention being deiined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A process of treating and finishing knitted 'hose comprising the steps of: placing the hose on boards and adjusting the hose to a desired length; then subjecting the boarded hose directly to superheated steam at a predetermined temperature and for a predetermined length of time in a zone of dry heat at a predetermined temperature; and then removing the hose from the boards and pairing the hose by number rather than by length.

2. A process of treating and finishing hose as claimed in claim 1 in which the predetermined temperature for the super-heated steam is in a range of 300 F. to 450 F.

3. A process of treating and iinishing hose in which the predetermined time for subjecting the hose to a superheated steam is in the range of 20 seconds to 60 seconds.

4. A process of treating and iinishing hose as claimed in claim 1 in which the predetermined temperature for the super-heated steam is in a range of 300 F. to 450 F. and in which the predetermined length of time for subjecing the hose to the super-heated steam is in a range of 20 seconds to 60 seconds.

5. A process of treating and nishing hose as claimed in claim 4 in which the predetermined temperature of the dry heat in the zone is in a range of 300 F. to 450 F.

6. A process of treating and iinishing |hose as claimed in claim 4 in which the hose are boarded when dry.

7. A process of -treating and finishing hose as claimed in claim 6 in which the hose are cotton.

8. A process of treating and finishing hose as claimed in claim 6 in which the hose are made from yarns having synthetic fibers.

9. A process of treating and iinishing hose as claimed in claim 6 in which the hose are argyles.

10. A process of treating and iinishing hose knittted from yarns having synthetic iibers comprising the steps of: dyeing the hose after knitting by subjecting the hose to a dye bath; then rinsing the hose in Water and after rinsing for a predetermined time adding a softener to the dye bath; then drying the hose by extracting and tumbling; then placing the dry hose on boards and adjusting the same to a desired length; and then subjecting the boarded hose directly to super-heated steam at a predetermined temperature and for a predetermined length of time in a Zone of dry heat at a predetermined temperature to set the dye in the hose and to set the shape and lengh of the hose; and then removing the hose from the boards and pairing the hose by number rather than length.

11. A process of treating and finishing hose as claimed in claim 10 in which hose having dark shades are subjected to super heated `steam in a temperature range of 300 F. to 400 F. and in which hose having a light shade are subjected to super heated steam in a temperature range of 350 F. to 450 F.

12. An apparatus for simultaneously setting the dye and setting the shape and length of hose on boards comprising: a casing defining a treating zone; conveyor means continuously -moving into, through and out of said casing; boards carried on said conveyor means for supporting hose as they continuously travel through said treating zone; a source of super-heated steam; means for supplying the super-heated steam directly against the hose within the treating zone; heater means in said treating zone for elevating and maintaining the temperature of said treating Zone up to at least the temperature of the super-heated steam discharged into said treating zone.

13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 12 including blower means within said treating zone for circulating air heated by said heater means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,874,884 2/1959 Heliot 223-76 2,915,230 12/1959 Brewin et al 34-103 X 2,990,087 6/1961 Brewin et al 223-76 JOHN J. CAMBY, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION Patent No. 3.431, 656 Dated Me;ch 1 l., l9 9 6 Invencor s Roy L. Luckenbach It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as show-n below:

as follows:

Column 7, line 59, after "hose" insert --as claimed in Claim l Signed and sealed this 6th day of April 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M. FLETCHER, JR. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR. Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM PO-1050 (1Q-69) lISCOMMnDC 80375-581 

